[Barracuda]

Yoyo, being able to go to out to 24mm would have meant a fair number fewer lens changes to the 18-55, but I see where it could be useful in urban situations and interiors. I think a 15-85mm would be a useful all around lens, wish someone would make one in a f2.8 or something faster than 3.5-5.6.

chupa, thanks, I’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback on that one. The near, mid and background with the fog really makes it. I was actually climbing under this bridge to get that shot (far side, about the first or second arch before it really starts to drop off).

[Barracuda]

The wide lens was alright, but often found it too wide for a lot of situations. Sent it back to BorrowLenses yesterday morning with no real plans to purchase something similar in the near future. There were times were it really came in handy, such as at the flight museum where I could get close to the aircraft and still get the plane from nose to tail, wingtip to wingtip in the shot – however I found myself going back to the 18-55 a fair bit when I was outdoors, especially in Amity where the foreground usually wasn’t all that interesting to warrant the wide view. The second morning in Amity I took a walk down the road from the cabin down to the main road leading into town where I was more at ground level with the surrounding farms to see what I could get with the 11-16. Even there, I found it a bit wide as I was constantly trying to keep my shadow out of the shot. Around where I live, a 17 or 18mm is probably as wide as I’d need 95% of the time, and probably wouldn’t really miss it the other 5%. Not saying I wouldn’t rent the 11-16mm again if I were to take another vacation somewhere the wide angle would be more useful though.

A much better shot of the waterfall along Otter Crest Loop than the one I’d put in the album earlier.
18-55mm @ 34mm, f22, 1/3sec (cropped)

Me playing photographer along the dune grasses, wife wondering what the hell I’m doing in the background.
Canon 18-55 @ 55mm, f5.6, 1/400sec

[Barracuda]

Rav, yup, I’m a south paw. Most of my family is actually. My sister is semi-ambidextrous but still favors her left.

And now for a few landscapes from the Willamette Valley where my wife and I stayed two nights. Absolutely beautiful little cottage tucked up into the hillside overlooking Amity, Oregon. Pond, multiple waterfall in the waterscape. Large stand of lavender that the local bumblebee population loved.

Tokina 11-16mm @ 11mm, f13, 1/8sec

Canon 18-55 @ 55mm, f7.1, 1/40sec

18-55 @ 18mm, f14, 150sec

[Barracuda]

The 55-250 isn’t bad, but I have to remember not to compare @ 1:1 against the 100 Macro!

Alright, a couple of selections from the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum – still quite a few more from there to sort through, but a few stand outs that I’ve got uploaded so far.

Ford Tri-Motor – 11-16mm Tokina @ 13mm, f2.8, 1/125sec

The obligatory reflection shot in the propeller cone. Tokina 11-16mm @ 13mm, f2.8, 1/160sec

British Spitfire “Carolyn” – 11-16mm @ 13mm, f2.8, 1/125sec

Hughes H-1 Flying Boat, aka Spruce Goose – 11-16mm @ 11mm, f3.2, 1/160sec
(Getting this shot is 50% of the reason I decided to rent the 11-16mm after the recommendation was made in my earlier thread over the 17-55mm f2.8)

More in the Picasa Album

[Barracuda]

Nicely done all in all. I agree that the motion blur is very nice. The fence really doesn’t detract much from those where it was in the way. Focal length differences help blur it out rather nicely for the most part it seems.

[Barracuda]

Hope you enjoy the T1i, hoping to get about a year more out of my XSi before I can’t stand the upgrade bug any longer. I have started having a periodic issue with the camera’s rear LCD going dark (ie off) on me. Usually turning it off and back on works to kick it back into gear, wonder if it has something to do with the sensor that registers when the camera is up to my face. The better high ISO is what I’m looking forward to most with my next body.

[Barracuda]

Thanks, the Jays more than any other were more than happy to pose for the camera as long as they knew they were going to get food out of the deal. Made it easier for me to get close enough for the 100mm to work it’s magic.

I’ve started posting a few of the shots from Amity in the Willamette Valley as well as some from the Evergreen Aviation Museum in the album linked above. I’ll come by tomorrow when I get a chance and post a few directly.

[Barracuda]

And some of the local wildlife:

Steller’s Jay – 55-250mm @ 250mm, f5.6, 1/100sec

Steller’s Jay – 100mm Macro @ f4.5, 1/500sec Same @ 2400px for details

“Alice”, resident chipmunk @ my parent’s place in Newport – 55-250 @ 250mm, f5.6, 1/40sec, flash, 400ISO

Unknown bird @ Newport Aquarium – 55-250 @ 250mm, f5.6, 1/500sec

Tufted Puffin @ Newport Aquarium – 55-250 @ 250mm, f5.6, 1/400sec

Harbor Seal @ Newport Aquarium – 55-250 @ 250mm, f5.6, 1/800sec

Haven’t looked at the Macros from this part of the trip yet, but my parent’s place has multiple flower gardens that I have a number of shots from that I’ll post later, as well as shots from the second half of my trip.

[Barracuda]

Started going through the shots, uploading the best, deleting the worst, everything else staying unprocessed for the time being. Debating looking into an HDR specific software package or doing my best with Gimp and the HDR plug in I’ve found for it. I have about a dozen bracketed shots that I took specifically for HDR processing, but those are at the end of the ‘todo’ list right now. I made use of every lens I brought, including the 100 Macro, both for macro shots of some of the local flowers, the bumble bees at the cabin, and as a medium telephoto for some landscapes from the hillside where our cabin was overlooking the valley. The 11-16 came in most handy at the Evergreen Aviation museum, but also got some nice landscapes with it as well. Made heavy use of the polarizing filter, some use of my ND filters as well. Look like I’ve got some 1200+ photos to get through, maybe a 1/3 through my first pass.

(photo difficulty: hide the line of people at the front of the lighthouse, and steady myself against 90-100 MPH wind gusts!!)

edit:

More photos being posted here: http://farktography.net/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=3617

[Barracuda]

My voting will have to wait till Saturday evening when I get to a real computer, a smart phone scream just can not show enough to really do an honest job at voting.

[Barracuda]

Coastal part of the trip complete, but the valley is having a heat wave so we will probably head back to the coast tomorrow. Posts of fog and wind on the coast so no real good views out to sea to be had.

[Barracuda]

Kestrana, thanks for the OBO, PMed you the posts. Now I really must stop playing around in Lightroom (making sure all my pics are Farktography legal!) and get some stuff done around here.

[Barracuda]

Went to Oak Point to use the Tokina 11-16 a bit more before my trip, but there’s only so many ultra-wide landscapes you can take of one small like that’s a foot or two down on water right now. So…..

[Barracuda]

Ended up getting the Tokina 11-16 from BorrowLenses.com, arrived today. Pulling down a few test photos right now that I took tonight. Tomorrow I have a ride in the morning, then I need to get my OBO for next week’s contest over to Kestrana who was kind enough to offer to post in my absence. I suspect I’ll be 99% w/o internet connection for the entirety of my trip, just the way I need it.

All my Canon lenses, the Tokina and my speedlight pretty much fill my camera bag, but I should be able to safely travel with all of it. I’ll probably stash one of the lenses in the carry-on suitcase since it’s a really tight fit in the bag to be bumping around a full day in airports and such.

Tokina 11-16 @ 11mm, f11, 2.5s shutter:

11mm, f22, 30sec:

(still working some on this image, not quite satisfied with how it came out of Lightroom just yet)

[Barracuda]

I’ve considered looking into an HDR suite of some sort, mainly so that I can have the flexibility to ensure my HDR doesn’t end up in the HDR Hole when I do choose to shoot for HDR. For now, the ‘Edge’ presets I have for Lightroom proved a faux-HDR effect close enough for my needs when I want to go in that general direction (and absolutely keep them within the realm of moderately realistic!)

[Author]

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